"I'm Sticking To What I Said, I Think They Are Not Real Fans" - Nikola Jokic Doubled Down On His Take About Nuggets Fans Who Boo When The Team Plays Like Ass
AAron Ontiveroz. Getty Images.It may just be the first few weeks of the NBA season, but you can look around the league and already see teams who are inching closer and closer to the panic button,
The defending champion Knicks are 0-3 with a -6.3 point differential, and haven't looked anywhere close to the level we saw from them during their run.
The Miami Heat were supposed to be this juggernaut after landing Giannis, a team many picked as someone who had the best offseason and they're 0-4 with a -12.8 differential. They're playing some of the grossest basketball in the league right now as nothing looks like it fits together. Hell, even the Bucks got a win before the Heat have.
And then there's a team like the Nuggets. Their record may say 1-2, but make no mistake, the first week of the season for the Nuggets has not been good. They sit with a -8.7 differential and could easily be 0-3 had that OT win against the Pelicans gone the other way. For a team that fancies itself a contender and someone who employs the supposed Best In The World player in Nikola Jokic, I'd say that's not exactly ideal.
During that OT win against the Pelicans, the Nuggets found themselves down 23 points. As a result, their fans booed. Seems like a pretty normal thing to happen given the circumstances, but after the game Jokic was none too pleased, essentially calling out the fans who booed and said they weren't welcome back. A bit of an overreaction if you ask me, if you don't like the boos then figure it out on the court (which the Nuggets did).
Well, immediately following this game the Nuggets had a showdown with the Warriors. A pretty good opportunity to play well, calm everyone's nerves and give the fans something to cheer for, right?
Wrong. Instead, it was another 20 point ass kicking by a team that let's be honest, will most likely be headed to the Play In
Giphy Images.Down 16 entering the 4th quarter only to give up 34 points on 57/66% shooting and see things balloon to 20, that's not great. Many would argue it's #actuallybad. Jokic finishing with just 19 points on 8-18 shooting with 7 TOs, he certainly hasn't looked like his BITW self. Add in all the bad PR around calling out his own fanbase, and it's all getting hard to ignore. Especially when after another stinker he essentially doubled down on his stance regarding Nuggets fans
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You try your best not to overreact, but the more this kind of stuff happens and the more the Nuggets struggle on the court, the questions are going to start popping up. Is it an absolute LOCK that Jokic stays in Denver? Does that sound like a guy who is happy? The poor play, the calling out fans, we've seen this exact scenario play out a thousand times over the years, and it almost always ends the same way. Is it at least plausible that the same thing could happen with Jokic and Denver?
At some point, something has to give. I would suggest playing better and stop trailing by 20+ at home to teams you should absolutely be better than. I would also say the Nuggets' issues are far bigger than just Jokic. Their roster appears to be flawed in the sense that there aren't too many legit defenders, the Murray/Jokic P&R feels like it's getting a little stale and figured out, and overall their approach is no longer as dominant as it was a few years ago. The league has changed, but have the Nuggets figured out how to adapt? Based on their early season results, I'd say not really.
When you add all of this stuff up, it has the makings of your classic Season From Hell. We get a handful of teams every year that experience this, so why can't it be the Nuggets? Especially with Jokic's contract situation hanging over everything. Logic says there's no way he's turning down supermax money and the largest contract in NBA history, but who knows? Things change over the course of 82 games, and if they stay like this? I don't think you can rule it out.